Process for making packages of christmas seals



atented` Mar. 1.7, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQE PROCESS FOR MAKING PACKAGES OF CHRISTMAS SEALS Charles S. Price, Hollis, N. Y., assigner to Reynolds, Metals Company, New York, N. Y., a corporation of Delaware Application January 21, 1935, Serial No. 2,635

3 Claims.

' and particularly metallic surfaced seals in such form with colors over the metal has increased. Heretofore such seals have usually been made by imprinting the several designs comprising the seals upon a bright metal surfaced sheet and then running the printed sheets through a cutter to cut slits in the material leaving bridges to hold the seals in place, or else cutting the seals entimely out of the sheet. The paper has been plain when paper seals have been desired and foil covered papers when metal seals were wanted. After the seals were printed and the sheets cut, the sheets or the severed seals were inserted into envelopes or boxes for sale. The boxes customarily had an opening in one side to display the contents.

y In many cases, the process of printing and then cutting the seals obviously produced lack of registry between the edges of the printed portion and the cuts intended to coincide with such edges.

Fine adjustments of machinery were necessary to .avoid such lack of registry but the adjustment was quickly lost in the use of the machine. The present process avoids such difliculties and many others.

The invention has 'for its objects the provision of the following:

An improved process for making Christmas seals;

A process for making accurately printed and cut Christmas seals;

A process for making self framing sheets of Christmas seals; and

An improved process for making Christmas seals in sheet form.

These, and such other objects as will hereinafter appear, are obtained by the novel and useful process hereinafter described and illustrated in the drawing herewith, in which:

Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating in longitudinal cross section one form of the new process; and

Figure 2 is a diagrammatic illustration in perspective of the steps performed upon the material of the seals.

'Ihe drawing illustrates the particular embodiment of the process chosen to be described herein. The same reference characters are used to indicate the same parts in the drawing and in the specification which follows.

In Figure 1, a roll I 0 of paper, metal coated or otherwise, is arranged on pivots to unroll as the material is required. As the material is taken from the roll it passes on a support between two rolls II and I2, one roll II being provided with surfaces I3 engraved or otherwise treated to im- 5 print selected portions of decorations upon the material. In cooperation with the printing roll are conventional inking mechanisms I4 and I5. Opposite the printing roll is a second roller I2 of the same size equipped with raised portions l0 I6, usually in the form of sharp ridges, placed to correspond with the figures on the printing roll or with shallow grooves I'I therearound. The ridges I6 in Figure 1 are exaggerated for clearness, as are the grooves Il. As the material passes 15.

between the two rolls the top roll II prints devices on the paper and the bottom roll l2, coacting with the top roll, cuts partially through the paper exactly at the edges of the printed portions.

The strip of material Illa then passes between a second set of rollers Iiand I9 similar to the rst, but adapted to imprint another set of gures upon the paper in the same or a different color and to vmake a corresponding partial cut or break in the paper. From there the material may go to still .other rollers which print other designs or complete in other colors the designs already partially printed, andat the same time complete the partial severing of the designs from 30,

the sheet.

After the material has passed the last printing roller, the partially cut out portions of the material pass to a stacking place 22. Above the material at that position may be a rotating paddle wheel 20 or the like to knock the printed parts 2| of the material in whole blocks out of the unprinted portions.

A further development of this process is to arrange the irst roller or group of rollers I I and I2 to imprint and partially cutl the more central portions of the section of material and to give such portions predominantly a single color. 'Ihe last set of rollers I8 and I9 imprints upon the outer portions of each section of material designs, and, if desired, background, in a color contrasting with that of the rst or central sections.

The rst group of rollers makes a separating partial cut between the inner and outer sections. The second set of rollers in addition to making a partial cut around the group of designs in the inner section, makes a complete cut entirely around the material. The effect produced is that of a group of colored seals framed within and set off by a border or panel of dilerently colored Christmas seals. The partial cut spoken of is in the nature of a deep score, breaking but not severing the material.

Where so desired, the individual seals on the material may be printed before the material comes to the rollers above described. Those rollers then color the background of the center section in one color and mark it off from the outer section, and color the outer section in a contrasting color and partially sever the entire sheet from the strip of material. Where this process is used in such a way the lower roller i-n each group may be smooth and the upper roller may be equipped with the printing blocks to transfer the colors and with raised lines around the printing blocks to produce the partial cuts.

Figure 2 illustrates the steps of the process on the sheets of seals. The strip of material Ia is first imprinted in one section as at 23 and the scores made in that section. Then it is imprinted in an outer section 24, and the scores made in that section and around both. 'Ihen at l25 the printed parts are removed from the strip of material.

Where so desired the raised lines for making the deep scores may be on the printing roller when iigures or designs are to be printed. This has the advantage of producing a better appearing sheet of seals, in that the scores are downward rather than upward. But it has the disadvantage that the inking device for the printing roller must be adapted to allow for the raised lines, or the sheet of seals must be such that the ink can be applied at the same time on both sides of the score line.

This process may be carried out by the use of ordinary vertically moving presses if desired. In that ycase the movement of the material from the roll is not continuous but periodic and in time with the movement of the presses. All of the presses must move at the same time, while the material is stationary. The apparatus for moving the material must be adjusted to suspend motion at the proper step in the cycle.

Where it is desired to use sheet rather than roll material each sheet must be properly placed in the rolls or presses but otherwise the process is the same.

What is claimed as new and is desired to be secured by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. The process of making Christmas seals which comprises imprinting a group of seal designs in selected colors upon one section of a sheet of material, simultaneously partly severing the imprinted portion of the sheet from the remainder of the sheet and also partially severing the seal designs one from another, subsequently imprinting in color contrasting with the colors of the rst designs other designs upon a section of such material surrounding and not covered by the first imprinted designs, simultaneously partially severing the material covered by the second imprint Vfrom the remainder of such sheet of material, and thereafter separating the second imprinted portions of such material including the portions first imprinted from the remainder of .the sheet of material.

2. A continuous process of forming connected groupings of bright metal faced Christmas seals in sheets, .each sheet having a plurality of colors and a panel design, whichcomprises the steps of printing by a printing roll a group of connected seal designs in a single color upon a center por.- tion of a continuously moving strip of bright metal surfaced material, and partially severing the seal designs one from another simultaneously with the printing operation, and then introducing the said continuously moving strip into .contact with another printing roll and applying another and diierent color in a series of connected seal designs upon the portions of the strip .bordering said center design and simultaneously partially severing the said rlatter sealdesigns one from another thereby obtaining sheets having a center portion of a group of partially severed seals in one color with border portions of seals in a different color in a colored panel effect, and separating and stacking the -said sheets.

43. As a new article, a sheet of .Christmas seals formed of a bright metal surfaced material, said seals being printed in two connected groupings, the first of said groupings being -acenter group and printed `in a selected color, and the Lsecond .of said groupings forming the paneling around the said `first group and being printed in a contrasting color so that a framing effect rby the second group upon therst group is obtained, all of the seals of both of the said groups being partiallysevered one from another and fromsaid sheet.

CHARLES S. PRICE. 

